1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video game system for playing a video game for removing displayed objects such as large circular pieces from a game field when the objects are successively connected, and more particularly to a method of moving objects in such a video game, a video game apparatus, a video game system, and recording medium which stores game program data for such a video game.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many various video game systems have been proposed in the art. They include, among others, a video game system comprising a video game unit for home use and a television monitor combined therewith, a video game machine for business use, a video game system comprising a personal computer or a work station, a display monitor, and an audio output device. These video game systems are commonly made up of a manual controller operable by the game player, a recording medium which stores game data comprising game program data and video and audio data, a central processing unit (CPU) for generating video and audio data based on the game program data, a video processor for processing the video data, an audio processor for processing the audio data, a cathode-ray tube (CRT) for displaying images based on the video data, and a speaker or speakers for outputting sounds based on the audio data. The recording medium typically comprises a CD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, a cassette housing a semiconductor memory, etc.
Video games that can be played on video game systems are available in a growing number of different types, and their rules are rapidly becoming more complex and diverse. One particular kind of video games which have been proposed in many different forms challenges the game player to handle successively falling pieces.
In such a video game, pieces that appear at the top of the display screen successively drop and stop when they hit the bottom or pieces that have already been dropped. Unless removed from the display screen, the dropped pieces are piled up to the top when the game ends. Dropped blocks will be removed if they are arranged in a certain sequence. In order to stay in the game, the game player will operate the controller to move a falling block so that it matches with neighboring pieces in a horizontal pattern, for example, without gaps.
According to one similar video game, pieces of different colors successively appear at the top of the display screen and drop when they hit the bottom or pieces that have already been dropped. If at least a predetermined number of dropped pieces of one color are connected, then they are all removed from the display screen. The game player will operate the controller to move dropped pieces with a displayed cursor to a position where they are connected to other dropped pieces of the same color for thereby eliminating the connected pieces of the same color.
The basic rule of those video games which handle falling objects is that the game ends when the dropped objects are piled up to the top of the screen unless removed from the display screen by the game player. These video games are played basically on the same principles except for shapes and colors of falling objects and patterns in which dropped objects can be removed. There has been a demand for a new video game which handle falling pieces.